Flexed wall or ceiling facing



Oct. 11, 1966 o. s. JENSEN 3,277,622

FLEXED WALL OR CEILING FACING Filed Dec. 4, 1962 j INVW United StatesPatent O 3,277,622 FLEXED WALL OR CEILING FACING Otto Svend Jensen,Hammerichsgade 14, Copenhagen, Denmark Filed Dec. 4, 1962, Ser. No.242,227 Claims priority, application Denmark, Dec. 5, 1961, 4,854/ 61 7Claims. (Cl. 52222) The invention relates to a wall or ceiling facing,where generally channel formed, thin walled panel elements are placedbeside each other, preferably with spacing between the side walls of thechannels, and are fastened on supporting rails, running transversely tothe panel elements and which have engaging members for disengageablyholding the panel elements.

In such facings it is of crucial importance that the panel elements lieflush with each other after being mounted, especially when the frontside of the panel elements are plane. The panel elements are generallyarranged with the side walls of the channels mutually spaced apart, sothat a relatively wide groove is obtained between them. It isfurthermore of crucial importance that it is easy to mount the panelelements and that it is relatively easy to remove a single element. Itis also of great consequence that it is relatively easy to carry outsuch variations, so that adaptation can take place according todifferent construction modules, and that a natural termination at thesides of the facing can be brought about without special elements thatare to be adapted to the mounting place.

The hitherto known facings of the type indicated do not fulfil all thelaid down requirements in a satisfactory way, and it is the object ofthe invention to devise an improved facing of the type indicated. Thefacing according to the invention is characterized in that the panelelements at the two side walls have engaging flanges that are directedobliquely rearwards to the front side of the channels and slope awayfrom each other, and that the mutual distance between the engagingflanges when the panel elements are untensed differs so much from thedistance between the corresponding sloping engaging members on thesupporting rails that said engaging flanges, when engaging, pressresiliently against the engaging members, and also that there arearranged stopping members, lying in a plane, against which rearwardlyplaced portions of the panel elements are pressed by means of theresilient engagement of the panel elements. On account of the resilientengagement it is easy to mount and dismount a single panel elementwithout taking the neighbouring elements down. On account of theresilient pressing against the stopping members the front sides of thechannels will flush with each other. By variating the distance betweenthe engaging members on the supporting rails and thereby the mutualdistance between the side walls of the two panel elements there will ina simple way be obtained an adaptation according to differentconstruction modules.

In some cases it will be advantageous or necessary that the facing iscompletely closed. This may be obtained, according to the invention, byplacing strip elements between the channel formed panel elements so thatthey lie behind the latters side walls, the front side of which stripelements form stopping members for the rear edges of the side walls ofthe panel elements.

The channel formed panel elements may, according to the invention, atboth sides have an inwards extending flange portion, whereto theengaging flange is connected. In this way there can be obtained anexceptionally practical construction of a closed facing where theinwardly extending flange portions abut against the front side of icethe strip elements. When there is to be adaptations according to thevariating construction modules, this can take place by altering thepanel elements overlapping of the strip elements or by altering thewidth of the strip elements.

The strip elements may, according to the invention be fastened to thesupporting rails by means of special engaging members on the latter. Bythese means an easy mounting of the facing is obtained. The stripelements may, according to the invention, have flanges, which obliquelyproject towards the rear of the strip elements. In this way anexceptionally easy mounting of the strip elements is obtained.

According to the invention the supporting rails may, beside the per seknown punched out tongues, forming the engagement members for the panelelements, have tongues for engagement with the engaging flanges of thestrip elements. When a panel element is taken down e.g. in order toallow examination of installations behind the facing, the strip elementswill be held fast at the sides by means of the tongues. Taking down apanel element can be advantageous if a partition is to be set up.

The engaging flanges of the panel elements, may, according to theinvention, engage with the engagement flanges of the strip elements. Bythese means it is obtained that there on the supporting rails only mustbe provided engaging members for the strip elements. Furthermore thepanel elements will be held securely fast to the strip elements in theentire length, so that there is no risk of having an unwanted wide jointbetween them.

The engaging members of the supporting rails may, according to theinvention, consist of resilient hoops that are resiliently fastened onthe supporting rails. Such resilient hoops are easy and cheap to produceand mount. By employing such hoops the advantage is obtained that it isunnecessary to take specially great care when mounting the supportingrails as in the case when the engaging members consist of tongues on thesupporting rails as in the latter case care must be taken so that thetongues on the supporting rails lie exactly in line with each other.

The invention will now be further described with reference to theaccompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, fiveembodiments of a facing according to the invention and in which:

FIGURES l, 2 and 3 are a sectional view of three embodiments of thefacing,

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of a detail of a fourth embodiment of thefacing, and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of a fifth embodiment of the facing.

In the FIGURES, 1, 3, 4 and 5, 1 designates a supporting rail that withadvantage may consist of a U-section that is arranged with the mainportion downwards. A plurality of such supporting rails are fastenedparallel with each other under a ceiling (not shown).

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1 the supporting rail hasequidistantly spaced apart sets of four engaging tongues 2, 3, 4 and 5of which the two outermost 2 and 5 are directed slopingly towards eachother, while the two middle ones 3 and 4 are directed slopingly awayfrom each other.

On the two middle tongues 3 and 4 there are hooked rearwardly projectingresiliently engagement flanges 6 and 7 on a strip element with a planefront side portion 8.

The facing comprises substantially channel formed panel elements, thathave a plane front side portion 9, obliquely rearwardly directed sidewalls 10 and 11, inwardly directed flange portions 12 and 13 andobliquely rearwards, inwardly towards each other directed engagementflanges 14 and 15. These engagements flanges 14 and 15 engage with theaway from each other directed outermost tongues of the two tongues sets,lying beside each other. that the engagement flanges 14 and engageresiliently with the tongues and the flange portions 12 and 13 willtherefore be pressed towards the rear to abutment against the front sideportion 8 of the strip elements. The engaging flanges 14 and 15 do notgo as far as they can under the tongues and it will therefore bepossible, when taking a panel element down, to displace the panelelement to the side to a suflicient degree, so that one side can bepulled away from the tongue in question.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 2 the supporting rails haveequidistantly spaced apart sets of tongues 16, 17 and 18 of which thetwo outermost 16 and 17 are directed obliquely away from each other,while the middle one 18 is transversal and may lie at right angles tothe main portion of the supporting rail. The side edges of this tongueare undercut. On these tongues 18 there are hooked rearwardly projectingresilient engaging flanges 19 and 20 on the strip elements with a planefront side portion.

The facing comprises furthermore channel formed panel elements having aplane front side portion 22, oblique side walls 23 and 24, inwardlydirected flange portions 25 and 26 and obliquely outwards and rearwardsdirected engaging flanges 27 and 28 that engage with the two, towardseach other facing outer tongues of two neighbouring sets. The channelformed elements have such dimensions that the engaging flanges 27 and 28press resiliently against the tongues, and the inwards extending flangeportions 25 and 26 will therefore be pressed against the front sideportion 21 of the strip elements. By compressing a panel element itsengaging flanges may be disengaged from the tongues so that it can 'betaken down.

The embodiment shown in FIGURE 3 corresponds substantially to the oneshown in FIGURE 1, but the tongues 3 and 4 are replaced by a singletongue 29, that has the same shape as the tongue 18 in the embodimentshown in FIGURE 2. The strip elements 30 are correspondingly made forengagement with such a tongue.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 4 the supporting rail is made withouttongues. On the supporting rails there are placed substantially U-shapedhoops, the branches of which 31 and 32 clamp tightly round the flangesof the supporting rail and at the bottom have outwards projectingengagement portions 33 and 34 that engage with flanges 35 and 36directed obliquely inwards towards each other on strip elements with aplane front side portion 37. The top placed transverse part of the hoopis curved and lies with its middle portion resilient against the mainportion of the U-formed supporting rail, which in this case lies at thetop, so that the strip element is pulled upwards against the bottomedges of the flanges of the supporting rail.

The panel elements are made in a way similar to the embodiment shown inFIGURE 3 and the engaging flanges 27 and 28 engage with the outer sidesof the engaging flanges of the strip elements.

The embodiment shown in FIGURE 5 has panel elements with substantiallythe same form as shown in FIG- URES 2 and 4. The supporting rail 1 hasopposite each other directed tongues 39 and 40, each with an obliqueinnermost portion, a horizontal middle portion and an oblique outermostportion. The facing furthermore has narrow strips 41 with the engagingedges 42 and 43, that are bent round and engage with the outermostoblique portions of neighbouring tongues and 39, while the engagingportions 27 and 28 of the panel elements engage round the engaging edges42 and 43 of the strips and engage behind the horizontal middle portionof the tongues 39 and 40. In this way the portions 25, 27 and 26, 28encircle the edge portions of the strips 41 along the entire length.

In the installation of the strip elements to the supporting rails, thestrip elements 41 are first snapped onto the The panel elements havesuch dimensions 4 tongues 42, 43, and thereupon the panel elements 22through 28 are snapped onto the edges 42 and 43. The lateral grooves 25,27 and 26, 28 provide engagement members with a considerable stiffness,whereas the panel elements portions 22, 23 and 24 have considerableelasticity in the lateral direction so that the lateral engagement forceis not dependent on small inaccuracies of the parts. Therefore reliableengagement is obtained so that there is no danger of the panel elementsfalling down even though they are made of a relatively thin sheetmaterial. Furthermore, the groove edge engagement between the grooveportions 25, 27, and 26, 28 and the edge portions 42, 43 over the entirelength of the element prevents any rattling between the elements.

The shown and described embodiments are only to be considered asexamples, as different variations are conceivable within the scope ofthe invention. The facing is primarily meant for employment in theso-called acoustical ceilings where sound absorbing material is placedin the channels. If eventually ventilation through the ceiling surfaceis to be established at a later time elements may be removed andreplaced by elements perforated for the passage of air. When placingpartitions a single panel element may be taken down to make room for thepartition, at the same time obtaining a uniform (inverted) appearance ofthe junction of the ceiling with both sides of the partition. Theelement, the strip element, that forms the bottom in the joint betweentwo panel elements may be given a special colour in which way a greateraccentuation of the joint is obtained. Each element can form aself-supporting termination along the long sides of the surfacing. Thestrip elements may be entirely left out, in which case the panelelements generally close together. In connection with vertical placingof the facing as wall surfacing the advantage is obtained, on account ofthe inwards directed flange portions, that sound absorbing material iseffectively held fast at both sides so that there is no risk of thematerial falling out of the elements.

What I claim is:

1. Wall or ceiling facing comprising: a plurality of resilient thinwalled'elongated panel elements in spaced side by side relationship,each of said panel elements having a face with upstanding side wallsalong the elongated edges thereof, said side walls being directedrearwardly relative to the face, and said side walls having on theiredges remote from said face flange portions being angularly related tosaid side walls, said panels having a space between their adjacent edgesand said panel faces being co-planar, supporting rails runningtransversely to the direction of the panel elements, said supportingrails having engaging means spaced therealong at panel width intervalsand said side walls being fleXted to press resiliently said flangeportion against said engaging means thereby disengageably holding thepanel elements, said engaging means including an elongated strip elementlying between adjacent spaced panels behind said flange portions, andheld in place by said engaging means, said strip element having a planefront side portion parallel to said panel face plane between which andsaid engaging means the side wall flanges are engaged.

2. Wall or ceiling facing as recited in claim 1, wherein said side wallsare directed obliquely rearwardly relative to the face and slope awayfrom each other.

3. Wall or ceiling facing according to claim 1, in which the stripelements have rearwardly and obliquely inward directed engaging flanges.

4. Wall or ceiling facing according to claim 3, in which the supportingrails have tongues for engagement with the engaging flanges of the stripelements.

5. Wall or ceiling facing according to claim 3, in which the engagingflanges of the panel elements engage with the engaging flanges of thestrip elements.

6. Wall or ceiling facing according to claim 5, in which the engagingmembers of the supporting rails consist of 5 resilient hoops that areresiliently fastened on the supporting rails.

7. Wall or ceiling facing as recited in claim 5, wherein the front sidesof said strip element form stopping members for the rear edges of theside walls of said panel elements and wherein said panel elements have,at either side and at the innermost edge of the side wall theerof, aninwardly extending flange portion to which said engaging flange isconnected.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 2,277,792 3/1942 Small 52497 2,424,547 7/ 1947 Bekin 52-508 2,553,363 5/1951 Droegen52-49 2,620,750 12/1952 Watter 52222 FOREIGN PATENTS 220,009 2/ 1959Australia.

226,325 1/ 1960 Australia.

579,248 7/1959 Canada.

240,305 4/ 1948 Switzerland.

349,398 11/ 1960 Switzerland.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

EARL J. WITMER, JACOB L. NACKENOFF,

Examiners. R. A. STENZEL, Assistant Examiner.

1. WALL OR CEILING FACING COMPRISING: A PLURALITY OF RESILIENT THINWALLED ELONGATED PANEL ELEMENTS IN SPACED SIDE BY SIDE RELATIONSHIP,EACH OF SAID PANEL ELEMENTS HAVING A FACE WITH UPSTANDING SIDE WALLSALONG THE ELONGATED EDGES THEREOF, SAID SIDE WALLS BEING DIRECTEDREARWARDLY RELATIVE TO THE FACE, AND SAID SIDE WALLS HAVING ON THEIREDGES REMOTE FROM SAID FACE FLANGE PORTIONS BEING ANGLARLY RELATED TOSAID SIDE WALLS, SAID PANELS HAVING A SPACE BETWEEN THEIR ADJACENT EDGESAND SAID PANEL FACES BEING CO-PLANAR, SUPPORTING RAILS RUNNINGTRANSVERSELY TO THE DIRECTION OF THE PANEL ELEMENTS, SAID SUPPORTINGRAILS HAVING ENGAGING MEANS SPACED THEREALONG AT PANEL WIDTH INTERVALSAND SAID SIDE WALLS BEING FLEXTED TO PRESS RESILENTLY SAID FLANGEPORTION AGAINST SAID ENGAGING MEANS THEREBY DISENGAGEABLY HOLDING THEPANEL ELEMENTS, SAID ENGAGING MEANS INCLUDING AN ELONGATED STRIP ELEMENTLYING BETWEEN ADJACENT SPACED PANELS BEHIND SAID FLANGE PORTIONS, ANDHELD IN PLACE BY SAID ENGAGING MEANS, SAID STRIP ELEMENT HAVING A PLANEFRONT SIDE PORTION PARALLEL TO SAID PANEL FACE PANEL BETWEEN WHICH ANDSAID ENGAGING MEANS THE SIDE WALL FLANGES ENGAGED.